Mekashron Call Center Software is a powerful sales tool for your business and nowhere is this more apparent than in its facilities for automated campaigns.
In this chapter we will look specifically at using Bulk Email campaigns. The topics we will cover are:
At this stage, we assume that you have completed the following tasks:
- Successfully Installed Mekashron
- Set up or imported your Entities
- Reviewed the chapter on the Mekashron Editor, which is used to create the emails you will send in your campaigns.
You will need to be logged into your Mekashron Call Center Software system as an administrator in order to set up Email Campaigns.
1 - Email Settings
To set up Mekashron for Email Broadcasting:
From the main Mekashron menu, select Main -> Settings.
Figure 1.1 Accessing Settings from the Main Menu
In the resulting dialog box choose the Email tab:
Figure 1.2 The Email Settings Tab
The main portion of the Email tab is the Email Accounts list. This will be blank when you first enter this form. The grid of email accounts is shown in the center of the tab, with the following columns for each account:
Below the grid you have the Station sends emails checkbox:
Figure 1.3 The Station Sends Emails Option
This option needs to be ticked to enable the PC to send emails via Mekashron.
At the bottom of the tab is the option to Limit sending hours:
Figure 1.4 The Limit Sending Hours Option
if selected, then Mekashron will only send emails between the start and end times that you specify.
The buttons on the right of the tab are:
Figure 1.5 The Buttons on the Email Settings Tab
- Add - Allows you to add an email account. Well see how to do this in a moment.
- Remove - Deletes an email account that you no longer require from the list.
- Properties - Allows you to view or change the details of an email account.
- Set as Default - Makes the highlighted email account the default, which will be used by Mekashron any time an email is transmitted. The default email account in the list will be shown in bold.
- From Outlook - If you click on this button then Mekashron will take your default email account settings from your installation of Outlook and import them into Mekashron. Note that all email account fields will be imported, except the account name and password. These are not imported for security reasons, and you will need to go into Properties and add those details manually.
To set up Mekashron with an email account, click on the Add button. This gives you the Email Properties form, which has three tabs: General, Servers and Advanced
Figure 1.6 The Email Properties Form
The fields on the General tab are:
- Account Name - Whatever name you wish to give to this email account.
- User information: Display Name - The name that will display in the From field when your client receives the email.
- User information: Reply Address - The email address that will be used to send the reply when your client replies to one of your emails.
The second tab, Servers, is where you specify the mail server you wish Mekashron to use.
Figure 1.7 The Servers Tab
If you have the Remote SMTP Server option selected at the top of this tab, then you simply set up the email account settings just as you would for any other email client. The details of the Outgoing mail server: Outgoing Mail (SMTP), Account Name and Password will be provided to you by your ISP.
You can choose for Mekashron to have the ability to log in automatically by selecting the Remember Password options. This is strongly advised so that automated emails and email campaigns can be sent without users being constantly prompted for the email password.
The Log on using Secure Password Authentication is usually left unchecked. However, your ISP may instruct you to use this setting, in which case this is where you turn it on.
The final option at the bottom of the tab is the Request a read receipt for sent messages option. You may wish to check this box if you want to get a confirmation email every time one of your clients opens an email from you. Please bear in mind that many email programs will prompt the user to ask if he or she wishes to send you a read receipt, so your recipient can override this setting and choose not to send you a receipt.
If you do not wish to use your ISP's email server, you can use the server of an external email account that you have set up. Below is an example of how to set up Mekashron to use your gmail (GoogleMail) email account.
Figure 1.8 - Server Settings for Using Gmail as the Outgoing Email Server
As shown above, the Outgoing mail (SMTP) must be set to smtp.gmail.com, and the account name and password must be those that you have already registered with GoogleMail.
The advanced settings for using the gmail SMTP server are:
Figure 1.9 - Advanced Settings for Using Gmail as the Outgoing Email Server
The port should be set to either 465 or 587, and you must check the box marked This server requires a secure connection (SSL).
If in doubt about these settings, please refer to the help documentation provided with your gmail account.
The second option for outgoing emails from Mekashron is to use the inbuilt Mekashron SMTP server. To do this, please select the option Built in Mekashron SMTP Server at the top of the tab:
Figure 1.10 - The Built in Mekashron SMTP Server Option
If you use the Mekashron SMTP Server then you bypass the SMTP Server of your ISP; however you still need to use their DNS Server, so you will require an IP address to put in the DNS field. Your ISP should be able to provide this.
Usually, the reason for bypassing the SMTP server of your ISP would be if you have an extremely large number of emails to send, and you do not wish to use your ISP's email server (for example, some ISPs limit the number of emails you can send out per hour).
When you use this option, you effectively tell Mekashron to send each email directly to the email server of the recipient. The email will show as coming from your individual IP address rather than from the IP range of an email provider as would normally be the case.
Note that this option should be used with care - if you choose to employ it for large mailings, please be aware of the following issues that you may encounter:
- The transmissions are likely to be slower than if you use your ISP's SMTP server, because connectivity needs to be established to a different server for each outgoing email.
- You should anticipate a relatively low success rate with these email transmissions, as many email providers block emails that are sent in this way from a static IP address.
- There is a danger that your personal static IP address could be blacklisted as a source of spam - if this occurs then again your success rate with email transmissions will probably be impacted.
2 - Create Email Campaign
There are three main steps for email campaigns:
- Select your entities
- Create your email
- Send your email
In the main Mekashron Entity List screen, select the entities to whom you wish to send this email campaign:
Figure 2.1 Selecting Entities for an Email Campaign
For tips on how to filter, find and select the list of entities that you wish to use, please refer to Search Entities.
Once you are happy with your prospect list, select Campaign -> Send Email from the Main Menu:
Figure 2.2 Creating an Email Campaign from the Main Menu
Alternatively, you can simply click on the Email button:
Figure 2.3 The Email Button
Either of these actions will bring up the Mekashron Editor for you to compose your email in:
Figure 2.4 Mekashron Editor in Email Mode
The functionality of the Mekashron Editor is fully documented here: Editor.
Please note the button labeled Send Email, that is available in the Mekashron Editor when you are using it in Email Mode:
Figure 2.5 The Send Email Button
In the Mekashron Editor you can open an existing email that you have composed previously in a separate file. To do this, select File -> Open:
Figure 2.6 Opening a Pre-Composed Email in the Mekashron Editor
This gives you the opportunity to browse to a location on your PC or your network and select an existing file in which you have already written the text for your email.
Figure 2.7 The Windows Open File Dialog Box
As you can see, Mekashron will allow you to open a variety of file types in the Mekashron Editor. However, it is recommended to only open Text files or HTML files for creating your emails. While you may open Word Documents, these will often not display correctly.
If you wish to compose a new email rather than open a pre-written one, you can do so directly in the Editor, taking advantage of the formatting options:
Figure 2.8 Composing an Email in the Editor
To customize the email for your own clients and prospects, you can use the Macro function to insert personalized fields. For detailed instructions on how to do this, please refer to the Editor section in this chapter.
In our example email we wish to personalize the email with the clients name and state:
Figure 2.9 A Personalized Email
If you wish to include a link for the reader to click on, simply highlight the text you wish to make a link:
Figure 2.10 Highlighting Text to Make a Link
... then from the menu select Email -> Hyperlink:
Figure 2.11 The Hyperlink Menu Option
... or alternatively click on the Hyperlink button:
Figure 2.12 The Hyperlink Button
In the resulting dialog box, enter the link information:
Figure 2.13 The Hyperlink Dialog Box
... and when you click OK, you will see that the text in your email is now a link:
Figure 2.14 An Email with a Hyperlink
When sending an email, you can insert or embed pictures into the email using the usual Insert -> Picture menu option:
Figure 2.15 The Insert Picture Menu Option
... or the Insert Picture button:
Figure 2.16 The Insert Picture Button
However, you also have the option of including pictures with your email without embedding them into the email. This reduces the size of the email and can speed up your email transmissions. If you have a large number of entities to send your email campaigns to, this option is extremely important. If you embed a picture into your email and then send that email to 10,000 entities, you will be sending a copy of the picture with every single email of the 10,000, putting unnecessary strain on your internet connection and email server.
It is much more advisable to link to the image rather than embed it; the way this is done is by linking to images which are residing on the internet. For example you might want to show your logo at the top of an email.
To include a picture in this way, position your cursor where you want the image to appear and then from the menu select Email -> Hyperlink:
Figure 2.17 The Hyperlink Menu Option
... or alternatively click on the Hyperlink button:
Figure 2.18 The Hyperlink Button
In the resulting dialog box, enter the full URL of the image you wish to link to:
Figure 2.19 Inserting a Link to an Image
In the example above we have entered as our hyperlink the full URL of the Google logo. When we click on OK and return to our email, it looks like this:
Figure 2.20 Our Email with a Linked Image
Once you are happy with your email, you can send it by clicking on the Send Email button:
Figure 2.21 The Send Email Button
You will be presented with the Options for sending an email:
Figure 2.22 The Email Sending Options Screen
The Campaign options in this screen are:
- Campaign Name - If you wish to save this email as a campaign, enter a new campaign name here and select the box below, Save as Campaign
- Save as Campaign - If this option is selected then the Campaign Name field above is a required field. However, if you simply want to send this email as a one-off event rather than a campaign, then you can de-select this option and leave the text box above empty.
- Apply only to new entities - When you later reuse the same email campaign, if this option is NOT checked then you will be able to send the email to ALL the entities you have selected in the Entity List. However, if you wish to ensure that you dont send a duplicate email to prospects who have already received a copy, please check this box in order to send the email to additional entities with no risk of spamming your clients by sending duplicates.
The other options, on the right of the screen, are:
- Schedule To: - Here you enter the date and time when you would like your emails to commence transmission.
- Spooler Priority - In this drop down you can select a priority of Low, Normal or High. In this way you can create multiple campaigns to be sent during the same time frame, and control which are spooled with a higher priority to get sent out first.
Once you have set the options for sending your email, click OK to send the email campaign.
When the email campaign transmits, which can be straight away or later, depending on the Schedule To time you chose and on what other emails are queuing in the system, you will see the following Email Progress screen that shows you the details of the transmission that is currently occuring:
Figure 2.23 The Email Progress Screen
As you can see there is some useful information in this status screen, including the number of connections being used, the total emails to send and how many have been sent so far, and whether there have been any errors.
Once you have sent a campaign, you can also view its progress and status in your outbox. For more information, please see the Campaigns Manage chapter.
3 - Add Entities to an Email Campaign
Once you have set up one or more email campaigns, you can easily add more clients or prospects (Entities) to the campaign in order to send the same email out to another batch of clients.
First, select the set of entities that you would like to add to the campaign in the Entities screen:
Figure 3.1 Selecting Additional Entities to Add to an Email Campaign
Note that if you filter the entities to show all those you wish to add, you can simply right click and choose Select All to quickly select all of the entities currently shown in the list:
Figure 3.2 Selecting All Entities in the Filtered List
As you did when creating an email campaign, now select Campaign -> Send Email , or click on the Email button.
When the Mekashron Editor opens in Email mode, by default it opens with a new document (in other words a fresh, new campaign). To open an existing Campaign, click on Campaign and then select the existing campaign you would like to use.
Figure 3.3 Selecting an Existing Email Campaign
this then opens up the campaign that we created earlier:
Note that in the Campaign dropdown we can see fax campaigns that we previously created as well as email campaigns. As fax and email campaigns are saved in the same format, we can choose to send out a fax campaign by email and vice versa.
To add the entities that we selected to this campaign, we can now click the Send Email button:
Figure 3.4 The Send Email Button
In the Options screen, this time Mekashron has pre-filled the Campaign Name field for us as you can see below:
Figure 3.5 The Options Screen for an Existing Email Campaign
The key option at this point is the Apply only to new entities checkbox. Ensure this option is checked if you simply want to send the campaign out to the new entities that you have added and ensure that no duplicates are sent out to entities that have already received this email. However, if you wish to send out the email to ALL of the entities that you have selected, even if some of them were in the original distribution list, then de-select this option.
4 - Email Campaign Statistics
In this section we will look at the statistical information that Mekashron gives you with regard to your email campaigns.
To access the statistics, from the Main Mekashron menu select Tools -> Statistics:
Figure 4.1 - Accessing Statistics from the Main Menu
Alternatively, you can click on the Statistics button:
Figure 4.2 - The Statistics Button
In the Statistics Type box on the left expand the &Campaign group and then select Email:
Figure 4.3 - The Statistics Type Box
Here is an example of some email statistics:
Figure 4.4 - Email Campaign Statistics
As you can see, the statistics are shown in graphical form on the right of the screen. The graph and data change dynamically depending on your selections:
- Date - The From and To date and time for the period you wish to view:
Figure 4.5 - The Date Control
- Campaigns - In this selection list you simply select the campaigns you wish to view information for:
Figure 4.6 - The Campaigns Selection List
Once you are happy with the statistics view, you can print or save your output:
Figure 4.7 - Printing or Saving Your Statistics
If you select the BMP option, then when you click the Print Statistics button you will be able to save the statistical view as an image on your PC or network.
If you select the Printer option, then Mekashron will send the output to your printer.
5 - Email Campaign Reports
In this section we will look at the reporting facilities that Mekashron gives you with regard to your email campaigns.
To access the reports, from the Main Mekashron menu select Tools -> Reports:
Figure 5.1 - Accessing Reports from the Main Menu
Alternatively, you can click on the Reports button:
Figure 5.2 - The Reports Button
In the Report Type pane, expand the &Campaign option and then select Email:
Figure 5.3 - The Report Type Pane
You are now presented with all of the options in the right hand pane for filtering your email campaign report:
Figure 5.4 - The Email Campaign Reporting Options
At the top right, select the business whose data you wish to report on:
Figure 5.5 - The Business Dropdown
Next, you can specify the date and time range of data you wish to include:
Figure 5.6 - The Date Control
In the Campaigns list, you can check all the campaigns you wish to include in this report:
Figure 5.7 - The Campaigns List
You can also filter your report by the status of the sent emails, in the Status checklist:
Figure 5.8 - The Statuses List
Once you have chosen your filtering options, you can customize the fields that will be shown on your report:
Figure 5.9 - The Visible Fields Control
Select those fields that you wish to include, and if desired use the arrow buttons:
Figure 5.10 - The Control for Moving the Visible Fields
to move those fields into the order that you wish to have them displayed on the report.
When you are ready to create your report, select the output type you desire:
Figure 5.11 - Selecting the Output Type
and then choose the page setup you want your report to have:
Figure 5.12 - Choosing the Orientation of the Report
before clicking the Generate Report button:
Figure 5.13 - The Generate Report Button
Here is an example of an email report in Preview mode:
Figure 5.14 - An Email Campaign Report in Preview Mode
6 - Summary
In this section we have covered all the convenient emailing options that Mekashron Call Center Software gives you. In particular, you also have the simple yet powerful Macro functionality that enables you to personalize your emails for each client or prospect.
Many expensive software programs have been developed with this functionality alone. You have all of this functionality and much more in the one application.